brakes

Chris Loader, fellow West Countryman, gave me lots of advice about brakes at Sywell - showing me his system, which has a reservoir, making it much easier to bleed, as you have a head of fluid to help push air out. On his advice I ordered a master cylinder and caliper with flexible pipework already filled with fluid, ready to go without bleeding - and all for £24! Incredible. I also ordered a 25mm carrier and 4mm brake disc from Gemini Karts. 

Chris's brake

My own system is going to be slightly different as it will be mounted in the cockpit (not at my feet) and will be operated with a hand lever or paddle on the steering wheel, connected with Bowden cable and a bell crank or similar. Basically, the cable system on mine needs to pull the piston in or pull a crank which pushes it in - rather than the convention of a foot-operated pedal pushing the piston in.

Why? Because the controls on the Bedelia were, initially, hand controls. Also, because my foot-well is so damned tight.

All for £24, and we know it works because it is what Chris has in his kart

Here are some possibilities:

An easily copied lever, fitted to the back of the piston

Diagram of integrated lever and master cylinder - but I want my master cylinder to be further back in the cockpit, remotely mounted.

A master cylinder with lever integrated for remote mounting and mechanical or cable operation- pulling away from the cylinder

This one is designed specifically for hiding the master cylinder somewhere on a bike, then operating it with a cable, which pulls the piston from behind - pulling towards the cylinder

I could easily make a mount with a lever pivoting on it and with my master cylinder bolted to it, possibly assisted with a spring. I can make it in angle-iron, with a flat as a base, with the upright surface providing mounting for the cylinder and a pivot point for the lever cylinder